IMMAF President Kerrith Brown could not be prouder of IMMAF alumni Jose Torres and Nkosi Ndebele

International Mixed Martial Arts Federation President Kerrith Brown was beaming with pride after presenting the BRAVE CF Bantamweight title to former IMMAF two-time World Champion and USA’s Jose “Shorty” Torres” at BRAVE CF 73 this past weekend. Torres beat South Africa’s Nkosi “The Future” Ndebele via split decision after a grueling five-round war of chess to be crowned the new king of the 135-pound division in the highlight event of the Pan-American Combat Week, which took place in Bogota, Colombia. The fight festival also hosted the Pan-American Championships, in which amateur athletes from North, South, and Central America competed for honors and rankings under the IMMAF banner.

Torres and former IMMAF African gold medalist Ndebele are shining examples of the great system put in place by the global amateur governing body and BRAVE Combat Federation, and President Brown could not be prouder of these two stars who have become household names on the professional circuit since. “It’s been a great night of fighting, the main event with Torres and Ndebele, it was really technical, it was just a very proud moment just to see two IMMAF athletes of Ndebele and Torres’ caliber compete on this level,” said Brown in a post-fight interview.

31-year-old Torres earned gold in 2014 and 2015 at the IMMAF World Championships before the younger and 28-year-old Ndebele stole millions of hearts when he was crowned the IMMAF African champion in 2017. 

“To see the ‘old vs new’ champions come through … it’s really exciting. It was a great technical fight, and I really enjoyed it,” said Brown, who highlighted Torres’ incredible Judo hip tosses, which played a huge role in him getting the nod from the judges at the end of the 25 minutes. “As a former Olympian Judo bronze medalist, just to see Torres activating his Judo and understanding what was needed to get the upper hand, it was exciting,” said Brown. “Torres is a shining example of how a mixed martial artist activates various skills and scores points. Those takedowns helped him win the BRAVE CF World Championship.”

President Brown also praised BRAVE Combat Federation and IMMAF for the collaboration and incredible work done since the two brands came together almost seven years ago.

“Highness Sheikh Khalid Bin Hamad Al Khalifa has been supportive from day one. His Highness and BRAVE CF play an important role in IMMAF’s development. We’ve had three IMMAF World Championships in Bahrain thus far, and many athletes have excelled and the transition from amateur to professional. When you look at somebody like Torres, who’s been a two-time IMMAF World Champion and then wins a BRAVE CF title, it’s really exciting.”

The BRAVE Pan-American Combat Week – made possible by BRAVE CF, IMMAF, the Colombian Association of Mixed Martial Arts (OCAMM), and the Latin Fighter Championship (LFC) – is the second International Combat Week hosted outside of Bahrain. 

Earlier this year, BRAVE CF traveled to Belgrade, Serbia, to launch the successful BRAVE Serbia International Combat Week, which saw 550 athletes from 62 IMMAF federations descend upon Belgrade to compete in Europe’s biggest combat sports festival before BRAVE CF 69 capped the ground-breaking week in style with an epic professional show in the nation’s capital. Colombia is now the third nation to host an International Combat Week, following events in Bahrain and Serbia.

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Roberto Villa is the CEO, Founder, Executive Writer, Senior Editor of FightBook MMA. Has a passion for Combat Sports and also a podcast host for Sitting Ringside. He’s also a former MMA fighter and Kickboxer.